Commercial End

The artist,who graduated from Vadodara’s MS University,employs the post-modernist language of borrowing,modifying and subverting the existing visual idioms in his art. His student work based on Bollywood’s kitsch art culture lead to his first solo exhibition at Sakshi art gallery in 2006 and ever since pop culture has been an integral part of his themes. But,he believes that his art is beyond the parameters of pop and says,“My art is not kitsch. It is in fact a comment on kitsch itself. Currently,the art market has little prospect for this kind of work,but I have to continue. I can just hope that one day I create market for my work.”

In 2007,Chattopadhyay took a hiatus from regular art work and travelled to parts of rural Rajasthan and then to Karnataka. This trip re-emphasised the theme of his work. “In those small villages and towns I came across product imitations,which were very amusing. In Karnataka,there was an aerated drink called Poppy which was packaged to resemble drinks like Pepsi and Coca Cola. So I created an installation on the theme of globalization going local,where I planted the Poppy bottles to create a field,” says Chattopadhyay. Another project,An Off-Season Boom on a Mixed Fruit Tree,saw him create a mixed fruit tree as a parody of the man-made mixed fruit flavour. “I even recorded a video of the villagers’ reaction,” adds Chattopadhyay,“My work aims to create community awareness and I hope it can achieve that in due time.”

The exhibition is on display at Sakshi Art Gallery till August 23.